Everything to me (A Paul Lahote imprint story)

Questions

I'm helping Emily with some baking - well, I'm fetching her ingredients - while the boys are cleaning up from the lunch she made us. Just as Emily swats my hand away from the bowl of blueberries we all hear tires rolling up the driveway and smell the unfortunately familiar stinging smell of vampire mixed with Jacob's smell. Bella. I groan out very dramatically, earning chuckles from the boys. They all race out like children to greet her and Leah turns the corner.

"I already have a headache from the smell. Do a lap with me?" I ask her.

"Unless you want to watch me bitch slap her... Yeah." And as much as I'd pay to see that, I lead Leah out of the house, dodging my eyes from Emily's disapproving look.

"Maybe I should call Bella and hang up!" We catch the tail end of the ribbing the boys are giving Jacob on our way out. 

"Maybe I should call Bella from a different number." I throw out in passing. Leah stops in her tracks and sends Bella a nasty glare.

"If you're here to torture Jacob some more, feel free to leave."

"Fun isn't she?" Jacob mumbles to Bella.

We get one more glance of Bella's confused face as we jump into our wolf forms and take off.

It's only a few days later when Jacob comes bounding into Sam and Emily's kitchen spewing nonsense about Bella and some intruder. Apparently we are now to post outside of her bedroom window. As much as I hate the idea, a part of me is glad that Charlie isn't in that house unprotected while strange vampires play home invader. It's only a matter of time before he becomes a casualty in Bella's living nightmare.

I feel even better about it when I discover I am to switch between pairing with Leah and Paul.

Tonight I'm with Paul. I'm so glad that it's in our wolf forms, so that I don't have to panic about what to wear. We're still claiming to be just friends. But the power of the imprint bond only continues to grow, and I can't seem to help but feel like he's a part of me. We haven't spent much time completely alone since that first night, so I don't feel so weird that I'm excited to sit outside a near strangers window all night.

I'm standing just outside the Swan house when I hear padding footsteps approaching.

I can see myself through Paul's mind as he sits down next to me.

"Hey" I greet him.

"Hi. I miss any action?" He asks, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

"Well so far the Seahawks won the game by a landslide. Charlie fell asleep on the couch and I made really awkward eye contact with Bella through the window." I fill him in.

"Wow. I can't believe you didn't wait for me to make awkward eye contact with Bella." He retorts and I let out a weird barking giggle. I huff and lay down in the grass, Paul following suit.

"Well, it looks like we've got all night to kill... What's your favorite color?" He asks me.

Smiling at his question I reply with a good side-eye.

"No no, you have to answer. We have like 9 hours to kill, and we're supposed to be getting to know each other!" He exclaims.

"Purple." I'm sure he can feel my smirk in the tone of my voice. "You?"

"White, with a little grey mixed in there." He replies while eyeing my fur, a playful look in his eye. "No actually it's red. My mom used to decorate the house in mostly red... It reminds me of her." That's the beauty about asking someone the simple question of their favorite color. It always leads to more intimate things.

"Tell me something else good about your parents." I request. I'd already heard the tale of the divorce. How his mom left because his dad was an asshole, but I liked the way he seemed to go back to his childhood when he thought of her in his old house.

"The three of us used to go to the beach a lot when I was little. I still love it there." I see in his mind images of his mom chasing him into the waves. Him and his dad playing soccer on the shore.

"Will you tell me about your parents?" He asks.

I hesitate. "Yeah. My dad used to be this really carefree, easy going guy. Didn't let anything get to him. But after my mom disappeared he got kind of trapped in his own mind. But he's always been so sweet to me... My mom was this really vibrant person. She drew everyone in. Everyone just wanted to make her happy. You'd just kind of find yourself going along with her so you could see her smile."

"She sounds a lot like you." Paul comments. You smile at him. "Do you miss Vancouver?"

A flash of ripping and snarling jolts through my head at the mention of Vancouver before I cut it off.

"You don't have to answer that if you're not ready." He says, feeling guilty for bringing me back there. I take a deep breath in through my  snout.

"No, I think I want to tell you. Something happened. And it changed everything for me. It's a really painful memory. But I want you to know even the worst of me before you decide to stick with me." 

"Hey. I want nothing more than for you to feel safe enough to share things with me. But I've already decided. I'm yours Lucy."

I want to kiss him so badly at that moment. But instead I open my mind to him and share the darkest moment of my life.